Unimaginable
by Danielle Luna Soulhart
Summary: As an assassin, emotions are clearly insignificant. Reborn made sure that his emotions are at bay. But why, in the course of his current mission, he felt his emotions starting to work, now that he encounters two children that might be in danger, or a danger. R
1. Prologue prt 1: Encounter

**A/N: I've been meaning to control myself over not posting this fiction or I should wait for the right time a. k. a. having my other story, "The Amiable Flame", reach at least 10 chapters. But, my mind won't let me and my heart says to follow my mind. So here I am, with a new fiction. And I am pretty sure that I am very much original. :D**

By the way, there are terms that you should now, but I will write it as the main chapter goes. :D

**Warning: this fiction might probably contain gory scenes that are not appropriate for innocent lives.**

P.S.: So I have three on-going series namely, The Rainbow's Guidance, The Prince and The Cub and this, Unimaginable. I hope you'll support them as much you did at The Amiable Flame. Don't worry, I'll finish it. :D

**DISCLAIMER: All rights go to Amano Akira. None of the original characters, terms and plot belongs to the authoress of this fiction. On the other hand, this plot is solely an original from Danielle Luna Soulhart, authoress of this fiction, and anyone plagiarizing this fiction will be sanctioned. Anyone who sees plagiarizing this is welcomed by the authoress.**

**BETA'ED BY: Azahkhiel**

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**UNIMAGINABLE**

© Danielle Luna Soulhart

November 2012

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**PROLOGUE: Encountering an unimaginable child**

…**:[]:…**

Venice, Italy – home of the finest cuisines, breads and fashion. People were bustling in the streets in their most fashionable attire and their hi-tech gadgets. There were also various conversations heard here and there from different groups of youngsters, bragging about their latest love partners and their accomplishment on making their partners fall head over heels on them. On the other side of the street was a coffee house where employees from big companies spent their breaks, some discussing their business materials, while others discuss their strategies for winning an investor. Cars were coming and going and some university students on bicycles can be seen on the lanes.

On one side of the road, a tall, elegant building stood proud among all buildings in the urban city. It was the most famous hotel that the elite loved to use for their meetings and other important gatherings. It was built in a sophisticated modern style of architecture and was surrounded by the most fabulous landscape that the world has ever seen. It actually occupied two blocks because of its size. There were also lots of expensive cars, mostly in black,stopping in front of the entrance to drop their passengers and left towards the parking area. And what was this famous building?

This was the Arcobaleno Prism Towers.

Being the most prestigious hotel in the world, it was no wonder that it could attract many politicians, businessmen and mafia famiglia in the whole world, considering the fact that this hotel has the best technology of securing important conferences, auctions and even family gatherings. It has three towers, all forming the triangle's corners, connected by bridges made of hard, thick fiber glass that overviewed the landscaped garden with a small man-made pond installed at the center of the said hotel, making it the reason why the hotel was "prism". What's more, the outside appearance of the hotel was entirely made of a one-way glass that surely made the hotel look like a glass triangle.

Arcobaleno was a term in Italian for rainbow, but it was colored in an eye-catching caramel paint in the areas that glass doesn't cover. There were three towers: the first two towers are named Cielo at the left and Notturno at the right; both of them having 50 floors exclusively for business purposes, complete with amenities and function rooms. What's more amazing was both lobbies have a high ceiling that showcased renaissance art and large, sparkly chandeliers. The central tower was named Dirigenti Bianco with 55 floors. This tower was exclusively for the use of the employees of the Arcobaleno Towers and the upper floors were for room use for those who work overnight shifts. However, the difference of the central tower was a very dark secret. A secret that only a third of the employees knew. A secret that has never been revealed from its origins since all information were based from rumors and useless information passing.

That secret was something civilians should never know. Not now. Not ever. Not even in their second to infinity life parallels.

Because, Arcobaleno Prism Towers, at night, turned to Celestino Faction – a place where deadly assassins, mad scientists and stealthy spies lived and work.

All said information were correct, the only thing was Arcobaleno Prism Towers were for just a mere show in the eyes of the public. It has its second branch in Japan but it was more hidden than of this one. The directors of the said Faction decided that hiding in plain sight would be better because they could easily track down people coming and going, and their "towers" were perfect for meetings – and meetings as in both business and underground meetings.

A ring went off as soon as the phone was picked up by the tower president's secretary. Her name was Bianchi and she was serving one of the greatest directors and the current president of Arcobaleno Prism Towers, Bermuda von Vichtenstein. "Hello?" she asked.

The voice at the other end of the line was all too familiar and it iterated information that brought** (a)** frown to Bianchi's beautiful face. She began scribbling down in outline the information and pressed a couple of keys in the keyboard. The talk went a little longer and she said, "Okay, I'll transfer you to boss already."

And with a few presses on the telephone, the previous line became on-hold while another ring was heard and was soon picked up by the third ring, "Yes, Bianchi?"

"President," Bianchi started, "One of our allied intelligence groups' representative is on the line. He wants to talk to you directly."

Bermuda decided to stop his current paperwork and put out a notepad just in case there was some information that was needed to be recorded, "All right, patch him to this line."

"Understood."

The line was connected as soon as Bianchi hung up and pushed the buttons to connect them. Bermuda wasted no time and immediately asked the caller, listening to the information while scribbling down in the process. He was not pleased at all with the information, not even the fact this caller has given him the worst possible mission that his faction and the entire alliance could ever handle. The talk went on for thirty minutes before Bermuda finally put the phone down. He raked his fingers through his hair and this was the first time ever he encountered multiple paths with possible dead-ends. Being a man of action, even though the mission was hard and even the alliance was having a hard time deciphering things to-and-to, he needed to quickly lessen the fires to pacify the situation, at least as of this moment. Things have been rushed in so quickly and he needed to respond to it with an equal, or better, faster action. With a quick thinking and all, he pushed a button and called Bianchi.

"Yes, President?"

"I want you to patch me to Luce," Bermuda said in a dead serious voice, "If she disagrees, tell her that it's urgent or it will cost her job."

Bianchi swallowed her in nervousness and unconsciously nodded in her place, "Understood, President." She said and quickly patched the line to Luce's intercom.

Who was Luce?

She's no other than the heir of the Giglio Nero Famiglia, one of the greatest assassins, the Vice President of Arcobaleno Prism Towers and also the head of the Stigma, a group of 8 assassins feared by many, even their allied assassins.

The said vice president instantly picked her phone after the first ring simply because she doesn't want to get disturbed from playing, as it was one of her past time from work. But the moment she heard Bianchi (she was quite fond of her and her brother), she decided to listen. "What is it, Bianchi, dear?"

"President wants to talk to you and-,"

Luce snorted and rolled her eyes, "Bermuda, again. I already told him that I am done with all the pape-,"

"I think that's not it, Lady Luce," Bianchi said, pausing for quick minute to type something and continued, "He told me that this will cost your job if you don't talk to him."

Luce sighed. She cannot definitely go against that. She has a child to feed. "Riiiight, connect him now."

Bianchi immediately connected her to Bermuda and as soon as it was done, the Giglio Nero heiress heard Bermuda's distressed voice, "Luce?"

"Exactly the one you're hearing," Luce replied, settling herself more comfortably in her office chair, "You sounded not so troubled. Or are you out of ideas to get me off my computer?"

Bermuda fought the urge to narrow his eyes, "This is not the time for jokes, Luce. We've got a code S+ mission here." He heard a couple of shuffles at the other end, a squeak from the chair, few clicks from the computer and a grumble from Luce. "Caught your attention now, Luce?"

"What's the report?" Luce asked instead, ignoring the sarcastic question that Bermuda expressed a while ago. She heard him sigh, both in defeat and in delight, before hearing the details that Bermuda received. As soon as the explanation was done, Luce's eyes were as big as saucers and the phone nearly fall off her hands due to tremendous surprise. "Are you sure about that?" she asked, scribbling the information down on her notepad and at the end writing the name 'Reborn' being encircled in red ink.

"That's what he said," Bermuda said, "As much as I want to discuss this with you personally, I can't do that right now because I need to contact the sub branch and the other allied factions."

"Wait, as far as our records show, they were already destroyed and imprisoned, right?"

"Yes they are, not if they were able to trick us and replace themselves with a high-class illusion."

"What….?"

"I am afraid that's the case," Flipping his notepad, Bermuda scribbled another set of outline and continued talking, "I'm leaving all the passing to you, Luce. I'll conduct a meeting for the Stigma later." Then the lines went off.

Luce was equally distressed. She looked down on her notepad and saw the name she has written earlier. Immediately, ideas rushed in. She picked the phone, dialed a number and waited for it to be picked up.

"Hello?" said the dark voice that seemed like to come out of slumber.

Luce hated dilly-dallying when it comes to serious business such as this. She was usually sweet and caring with flowers fluttering around her when she talked to her subordinates. But this was entirely different. A lot serious than serious itself. "Reborn, get into my office, now. Bring Colonnello with you." Then she shut the phone off. She hoped that her plan will work; after all, this was severely impromptu.

…**:[]:…**

"Reborn, can you please stop dragging me?" Colonnello pleaded exasperatedly to his current partner, Reborn. His hair was still slightly disheveled because he didn't have time to comb it properly. His clothes**,** too**,** were a mess and it's a good thing that he has his shoes perfectly matched up, unlike before when the same dragging experience where he put on two different shoes.

However, Reborn ignored Colonnello's protests and continued dragging him towards Luce's office. He didn't bother telling Colonnello what's wrong the moment he entered the blond man's private quarters. He was too pissed at the moment that right after he exited his slumber world, he received a call from a pissed Luce, who was their boss. But at the same time, he was curious. Being the perfectionist and sadistic he was, he wasted no time and went all the way to Luce's office, may both of them be dressed properly or not.

Heck, he even left his fedora on the rack and the first two buttons of his loose white dress shirt were left open.

He could care less.

…**:[]:…**

A soldier was patiently and diligently taking his rounds at the 'secret' quarters. These 'secret' quarters were only known by a few people including all highly trained soldiers that were needed to protect everything that was inside. As he passed by the hallways, a sigh of relief and anxiousness were released by two children. The taller of the two peeked out a little to see the situation while the other simply kept himself glued to the wall. As the taller kid deemed it was safe to move, he coaxed the other to stand, receiving a disagreeing shaking of the head while trembling, until he was able to drag him out of that safety shade.

The kid seemed to be excellent in sneaking away from people.

There were already a total of 15 soldiers that made tight security checks, but none of them were able to spot these children who were simply hiding in walls, or in big boxes and tables. They expertly bypassed risky areas until they reached a small room, far away from the hallways where the soldiers were walking and inspecting.

The children's knees gave out and slumped on the cold floor, panting out in fear, nervousness and fatigue from running away. The taller kid managed to recover easily, but as for the other, he was still panting, almost close to wheezing, while he tried to sit up.

The taller kid frowned: he saw the bruises, cuts and the seemingly deep gashes that came from a whip and were beginning to heal. This was one of the reasons why he has the other kid with him. He took him away from his room, away from his captors, because he kept on seeing those wounds. It was horrible. Even his father wouldn't even lay a finger on him. He believed that children should be happy, and if punishment was needed, it should be a couple of spanks, or a scolding, and not these heart-breaking wounds. /He was about to cry when he felt a warm and soft hand holding him. It belonged to the other kid. He watched him shook his head like he was telling him that he should not worry about his wounds too much – that it was his fault for having it. Then he smiled.

The wounded kid smiled back at him.

However, instead of being happy in return, he frowned irritably. How could this kid smile in the middle amidst of all these pain?

"How can you stay happy when you're filled with wounds, hah?" He asked rather harshly, making the smaller kid shrink. "You should be angry at them! You should fight back!"

The smaller kid shook his head, not because he was negating the words of the taller kid but the fact that he knew his own capabilities – he lacked fighting skills. He was too weak to resist the strength of the taller people around him. Annoyed by the lack of answer, the taller kid made a 'tch' sound and gave up at the kid's behavior. What can he do? They're two different souls living in two different environments, and only one factor made them perfectly similar.

They were both kids.

He abruptly held the scared kid's hand, forcing the other to look at him while pointing at the closed door in front of them, "Whether you like it or not, we're going out of this place, okay? So I want you to stay with me."

Thankfully, the scared kid was not too dumb not to answer a mumbled, "Okay."

…**:[]:…**

"Did you understand what I said?" Luce asked impatiently. She wanted to go back to what she was playing right now, and the sudden mission was making her annoyed

Reborn and Colonnello nodded sharply despite their messy attire and grumpy attitude. Reborn raked a few strands of black hair away from his face and spoke, "We do understand. But do you need to be this rash?"

"Tell that to Bermuda. Because of him, I wasn't able to finish the game I was playing."

Colonnello snorted, "You're such a gamer, hm, Luce?" When he saw Luce scowl, he made a big gulp and said, "Okay, okay. I didn't say anything." _Sheesh._

"So, how long are we supposed to finish this?" Reborn asked. He used his hand in order to try fixing his hair but was in vain.

"As fast as possible your bodies could take." Luce replied. Swiveling in her chair, she took a folder from an adjacent drawer and handed it to Reborn, "The culprit for this whole scheme is the Inganno Famiglia. The details are there in the file so don't bother asking me. You can do the other things written there but your main quest is the one written in 15, red, bold words."

"Wow…these sure are a lot, Luce." Colonnello remarked. "Is this why you wanted me to have Reborn as a partner? You usually don't give him a partner during missions."

"This is not a matter of partnership, Colonnello, dear," Luce said, "I have told you, this is a class S+ mission, a lot more dangerous compared to what we usually do because it includes everything – our lives, clients, prized loved ones, everything. I chose you two because I know both of your skills. With the both of you, I'm pretty sure that you two will be able to pull it off."

"Hn," Reborn said, retreating from Luce and headed towards the door, "This is an exemption, Luce. Next time, if you want to pair me up, pair me with someone decent, not with this bird-brained soldier."

Colonnello fumed, "OI! I'm not bird-brained, you psycho-sadist!"

Reborn snorted, "Psycho-sadist huh? At least not a bird-brain like you." Then he started treading off Luce's office with Colonnello following suit as he shout profanities at his partner.

All could Luce do is to shake her head. She was kind of beginning to feel half-hearted for what she decided – half for having the right decision because he knew their capabilities and chemistry, and half from being wrong because she knew they'll both bicker at each other until the end of the mission.

She sighed.

Typical.

…**:[]:…**

With a speedy movement, the two boys ran as fast as they could, puffs of air flowing out from their mouths as they try to catch their breath while running. Unfortunately, they made a wrong turn and the soldiers immediately spotted them. The smaller one, having the impossibly most fragile body, was already trying to stop the taller one, but the tugs of encouragement kept coming to him instead and when he looked at the taller one, he saw that great determination coming from him.

_He really does want to go out, doesn't he?_

Without any other words, they made quick turns to the left, then right, running straight again passing two blocks, then right, another right, until they reach the locker room. The taller boy almost threw the smaller boy inside before closing the doors shut. When he deemed it's closed enough, he grabbed the smaller boy's wrist and ran at the far side area of the locker room.

"Can't you be a lot faster?" The taller asked.

The smaller boy sported a red tint of embarrassment and hid his face through his bangs. He really didn't have any talents or skills, even in running. He shyly looked at the other slowly and even before he could answer, a measly 3 seconds have passed and the soldiers were able to slam down the door and follow them inside. What came afterward was all a blur and the smaller boy wasn't able to comprehend the order of events that took place – him being pulled behind the taller, the soldiers yanking them like tug-o-war, the taller boy kept on kicking the fat soldier with a donut stuck in its mouth, or the freakishly girly scream he produced that attracted gunshots.

Honestly, these stupid soldiers don't have a clue who would fire a gun. They all got an order of not using firearms unless necessary, and certainly to not attract bystanders or worse, security. But alas, this little kid by their clutches screamed like a slaughtered pig and it definitely shook the whole building. Without further ado, the taller boy kicked his captor in between his legs, stomped hard at the feet of the nearest soldier nearby his captor, jumped and poked the eye of the next one, and swiped his legs to make the smaller boy's captor's body to fall hard on the ground. After that, they made another round of running.

Oh joy.

…**:[]:…**

"You know, sometimes I can't understand why you're being so sissy, Reborn." Colonnello stated as they walked in front of the building. Reborn, on the other hand, was simply ignoring the blond and continued tinkering over a few screws then pulling out his portable laser knife to cut the metal open. When Colonnello realized that Reborn was not listening, he quickly grabbed the assassin's fedora hat and put it on his head.

Clever.

He forgot that Reborn doesn't like his favorite things touched, especially those given by his favorite humans.

As a result, he gave off a shot, almost hitting Colonnello by the temple.

Reborn took the liberty to walk towards Colonnello and retrieve his fedora hat, "You're 300 years too early before you can steal my fedora. You don't enough dying will."

"Sissy!"

And that broke the line. They made a brawl outside the building and a few passersby incredulously looked at them fight. The brawl lasted for 30 minutes, and being partially (thankfully) disoriented, they made a silent truce to never report this incident to Luce, or they'll be both dead meat.

Soon enough, they were able to go inside. It's really a good thing that the intelligence department was able to produce a map of their target building. It's all thanks to their insider who gave all the data stealthily before resigning and now, they have one of the building's precious information.

"So, where are we exactly going?" Colonnello asked, eyes never leaving from his own copy of the map. "I don't exactly see the target item. Should we be really the one for this and not the spies?"

"You talk too much, Colonnello." Reborn said, flipping his own map in different ways as if trying to extract an arrow sign that says "here". "First, we need to retrieve that data back since it contains valuable information as it was stated here. But our main goal is to find this guy," Then he pointed the picture at Colonnello.

"He looks puny to me." The blond haired assassin remarked.

"He _is_ puny and that's why I hate them."

"I hope he isn't that bad when we retrieve him."

"Keep your comments to yourself, idiot. We're running out of time." Reborn said then took a quick turn to the right.

Colonnello was furious. "O-oi bastard! Come back here, kora!" There's his catch-phrase again. He only used that (although unconsciously) when he's so furious, or let say a swirl of emotions was present. Before he could say anything more, he heard gunshots. He immediately stopped and on instinct, he lifted his nose to trail the smell of gunpowder into air. This made Reborn stop too and appear a foot behind Colonnello. He made no comments for he knew Colonnello's ability to smell the gunpowder and locate the position of the gunshot because of his trained nose. And after a few seconds, Colonnello sighed and faced Reborn.

"The gunshot came not far from here."

"So, it's possible that either of our two missions is there." Reborn said.

"Affirmative."

Reborn huffed. This was no time for jokes. They have to finish their task in the least possible time without getting caught or harmed. Plus, there was risk of putting an innocent life in danger during those series of gunshots. Without looking at each other, Reborn and Colonnello immediately ran towards the direction of the gunshots.

…**:[]:…**

**TBC. Part two is on the way. If you have questions, you can review me and I will happily answer them. :D  
**


	2. Prologue prt 2: An Unimaginable child

**A/N: Banzai for my beta for suggesting this. Thanks to her, I split the story into two parts. Hehehe. I must say I am guilty for being so careless. :P**

**BETA'ED BY: Azahkhiel**

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**UNIMAGINABLE**

© Danielle Luna Soulhart

November 2012

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**PROLOGUE: Encountering an unimaginable child part two**

**..:[]:..**

Luce was beyond pissed for two reasons: one was because she wasn't able to finish her game, so she's immediately 'game over' when the time was up. Two, she was getting impatient from waiting for Reborn and Colonnello. It has been 3 hours already and she hasn't received any calls from the two of them. They usually inform her about their journey inside the targeted area. Right now, she was seated in front of Bermuda's desk who was currently talking to the head of the intelligence department through intercom. She observed him. This was one of the few cases wherein she could see how furious and nervous Bermuda was. Bermuda was a very refined man - a man of honor and respect. And almost everyone in the world knew about Bermuda because of his superb skills in shooting. Before this deceiving hotel was formed, Bermuda was the head of the tactical division responsible for stopping kidnapping, coup de tat, and other dangerous situations. However, he was betrayed by one of his colleagues and gave him to their general and the government. It made his position removed from him, his license and the dignity as a tactician. Arcobaleno Prism Towers was then born with a promise to eliminate all of the evil lurking in Japan.

And observation time was up.

"Luce, has the two idiots called already?"

Oookay. How should she explain this? "Uhm, they haven't. Maybe their phones can't pick up reception so they can't call."

"It's that tight inside?"

"Could be. The map drawn by the tactical division seemed to be pretty intricate and complicated at the same time to me." Luce said as she pulled out her own copy of the map from her envelope, "I just received this from Lal."

"I am aware. But she should have given me one too."

"You're not a Stigma or an assassin."

"I am the President of this company."

"Touché." Luce sarcastically replied as she flicked off pieces of hair out of her face.

"Anyway, where is it located?"

"I'm not quite sure. We have four impending cases inside the target area. Although I specifically instructed them to get the main mission and that one you instructed me to tell them."

"Ah. I see. Do you think they're near?"

"How should I know? They haven't called, _remember?_"

Bermuda was left staring at Luce's retreating figure, probably getting some coffee to shake off the irritation.

…**:[]:…**

"W-we…we should…stop…" the smaller boy merely said, panting off the fatigue from continuous running away from gun-toting soldiers. "You should just leave me alone…" He softly added.

He and the taller boy were now inside a room filled with computers. The place was dark and the only light present were the small red lights emitted by the small power boxes that gave power to the computers. There were also piles and piles of books and scattered papers. It seemed that the room was used not too long ago. After a little while, the smaller boy was able to calm himself down although he was all sweaty and felt his knees about to give out, not used from running too much especially from people who has all the capabilities of sending them to their death beds. When he looked up to say something more to the taller boy, he saw a frown more than apprehension and talked in a desperate, irritated manner.

"Leave you alone?! You want me to leave you alone! Do you know what you're saying?"

That loud voice made the smaller boy to shrink down the floor, burying his head to his knees and replied, "I don't…I don't want you to get involved anymore…"

The taller boy then heard sobs and he could see those frustrated tear drops cascading down the floor. He observed him once more and he just then realized that he was far luckier than the boy in front of him. He was healthier than this boy and a lot confident that they could get out. He was angry because the smaller boy gave up too easily and would choose the hard life than to be free from his oppressors, yet at the same time, he felt the utmost pity for him.

Because he was just taken to this building.

And the smaller boy had particularly lived the entire of his life in this building.

He, being the smaller boy's first friend, was treasured and so the smaller one doesn't want him to be injured like he was. The smaller guy was actually sacrificing himself for the taller one.

He was touched.

But he couldn't simply leave him behind.

Crouching down, he held the trembling boy by his shoulders carefully and softly, making the smaller one look at his smiling and comforting face. "I understand. You are also my first friend so I don't want you to be in danger too. I'm sure that my papa will save us."

The smaller one hiccupped as he listened and wiped the excess tears from the corner of his eyes, "B-but, there are lots of soldiers outside."

"We can do it together! We promised to stay together, right?"

As that came, the smaller boy remembered a memory that happened three and a half months ago, wherein he and the taller guy made a promise to each other that they will get out together. Sadly, he was broken first before that happened, destroying the smaller boy's hopes of getting out. But now, he felt safer and a little of that confidence returned to him. Timidly, he uncurled himself and looked at the taller boy's eyes with soft yet determined eyes.

"I…I-I may know the quickest way to the entrance."

The taller boy's mouth stretched to the toothy grin, "Why didn't you say so?" Then grabbing his hand, he pulled the smaller boy's body towards his and hugged him, "We'll make this a success together, okay? Just stay with me."

The smaller boy smiled genuinely, "O-okay…" And they took their last run for their freedom.

…**:[]:…**

"O-oi, is this the way to it, kora?" Colonnello asked, shaking his flashlight because it's losing its grip. "We're lost, aren't we?"

Reborn was pissed. Of course it's obvious they're lost. They were not informed that this building was more complicated than he thought, or so magic was just tricking them to the fullest. _Che, magic doesn't exist_, he mused. It's 21st century already, and magic and alchemy don't work in this kind of world. The only magic that existed today was the one called technology. Colonnello, on the other hand, frowned when he didn't receive any reply from the overly stoic Reborn. He knew, apart from anyone else, how quiet, anti-social and dangerous Reborn could be, plus he has trust issues. They were friends since middle school yet…yet…it seemed that Reborn was still cautious around people, including the ones who deeply cared for him. But that's not the case here; it's the matter of at least cooperating in a death-induced mission like this one. He doesn't expect Reborn to be like others, but he should show that he trusted his partners, especially him. He sighed. _When will time come where Reborn will change…?_

Suddenly, they came to a halt, surprising Colonnello from his train of thoughts and beamed the flashlight at Reborn's contorted face. "OI, KORA! You have a voice to warn me you're stopping!" he exclaimed.

Reborn scoffed. "You're spacing out, idiot. You should pay more attention to your surroundings or else you could get chopped." Then he spread out his map and studied the area. It seemed suspicious to him that the information on the file and the map were not connecting, and the hallway that they were in was somewhat not fitted in the map. He looked at his surroundings; ignoring Colonnello's continued bickering and looked back at the map. He found it really odd. With an abrupt turn, he looked at Colonnello and lent out a hand, palm facing upwards towards Colonnello's direction, "Colonnello, hand me your map."

Colonnello was baffled, "W-what?! You have your—," he was quickly cut off when he saw those deathly glares from Reborn and drew out his own map. "Here. But why do you need exactly of my map?"

"Don't you find this place odd?" Reborn asked, taking the map and crouched. Colonnello soon followed and watched Reborn's actions, "We've been running in circles and followed that series of gunshots. But we can't find a single room into this hall."

"Now that you've mentioned it," Colonnello stated and looked around, "this is actually the same spot where we heard the gunshots."

"Quite the perception there, bird-brain," Reborn smirked as Colonnello frowned. The fedora-wearing assassin was just naturally serious and seemingly indifferent, but only few knew who he truly was. And Colonnello was one of them. Reborn trusted Colonnello for what he was, and in times like this, he trusted Colonnello's special ability to differentiate things from the other. "At first, I thought I was just zoned, but when the second time I look around, it seemed that my hunch was right."

"You should have told me a while ago, bastard, kora." Colonnello grumbled and ducked his hand to his backpack, rummaging through it until he got what he needed, "I hope this thing Verde gave us would help us get through."

"Okay, let's try a quick run first. Then we'll strategize."

"I'll do the honors."

"You better not fail."

It actually took the two assassins forty-five minutes to study the whole place along with Colonnello's device attached to the wall. And the moment they're back, the device was still there. After the run, Colonnello took the device and sat on the floor with Reborn beside. Reborn took out the maps while Colonnello set the device on a mini laptop as they talked about possible strategies and places of where the rooms of their targets were. They were completely silent but not to the point of awkwardness, and deep inside both knew that this was the cooperation that they were waiting for.

Maybe Reborn was just in a bad mood earlier, and maybe Colonnello just woke up at the wrong side of the bed.

And now, both of them cooperated with ease.

At exactly 15 minutes, they were able to finish their analysis. Colonnello showed Reborn that the device was able to capture snapshots of the hallways they went to (not to mention those microscopic cameras that Colonnello attached to different places as they walked). Reborn then compared the images to the map they have and found that the maps they have were completely different.

"It seemed that we've been tricked" Reborn muttered, "The images are completely different from the map. Plus, our maps both have different images."

"But," Colonnello said, "wasn't Lal the head of the tactical division?" When he received a nod from the other, Colonnello continued, "If that's so, then she should have checked the maps if they were the same."

"I think these maps came from our intelligence department. Remember that Fong had his own mission here a week ago and Verde three weeks ago? Probably they had different interpretations of the pathways."

"Looks like the Inganno have planned this all along. We've fallen into their trap." Colonnello was on the verge of crushing his laptop if not only for Reborn who was holding it. Reborn was also in no mood after realizing that fact. They all knew that Inganno was destroyed, but it seemed that the famiglia managed to get away from the rumble.

"We can't do anything about it," Reborn said, turning Colonnello's laptop into sleep mode before closing, "It's done, and I believe that Estraneo is behind all this."

"They wanted to get all of those files from our server."

"That's true." Reborn then lay out the maps horizontally and called Colonnello's attention, "Falcon," Falcon was Colonnello's screen name and his name held promise of finishing tasks and eliminating targets below the deadline. Colonnello's ears now were as sharp as a falcon's, "We have studied that these maps are completely different from each other, however," Reborn rotated one map vertically and put it atop of the horizontal-faced map, "If we connect these two, new pathways emerge."

Colonnello nodded, "It makes sense. How about we try it, Chameleon?"

"Sure. Let's get our gears ready."

…**:[]:…**

"Are we there yet?" the taller boy asked as he looked side by side for soldiers. Thankfully, there's none.

The smaller boy timidly walked at the center of the intersection of the hallway. From what he can remember, this place was so complex that you need to enter a specific door to reveal the hallway. It's made to lure away intruders and the maps posted on this building's server were done differently to confuse the enemies. He somehow every corner of the building since he was always here. When he saw a familiar mark, he quickly but shyly grabbed the taller boy's hand and tugged him towards the direction he deemed right.

"I…I-I think…i-it's this way…" he mumbled softly. Because of what he did, he received a pat on the head that represented acknowledgement, something that he doesn't receive every day.

"That's more like it!" said the taller boy, "I knew you had something too. I can feel we'll be out of this building in no time."

The smaller boy just smiled, happy and proud that he was able to do something for his first friend. "Come on…"

As they ran, the smaller boy didn't fail to notice two dark figures that ran towards the hallway where he knew secrets were hidden. Their running came to a halt, which made the taller boy surprised.

"What's wrong?"

"There were two guys…" the smaller boy softly said, fear slowly engulfing his body for the lives of those men. "They were going to the secret room…"

"Secret room? I didn't know that."

"Of course you don't," the smaller boy's voice became a little louder, "you were just brought here, right?" The taller boy made no comment but nodded his head in approval. Nevertheless, the smaller one explained that secret room, "That room is the room where files can be seen. I've been hearing them a lot talking about files and protecting the secret room."

"But the soldiers are out everywhere."

"Yeah…"

"So, do you think they're good or bad?"

The smaller boy pondered for a brief moment as he looked towards the direction where the men went. He hung his head down a little before muttering, "I don't know, but I can feel something is going to happen."

…**:[]:…**

'_**Falcon, do you read me?'**_

"I can hear you loud and clear, Chameleon."

Reborn and Colonnello, upon reaching their target site, decided to communicate through their headgears and split up. According to the files that Luce gave them, there are 6 missions that can be accomplished inside the target building; however they were only instructed to finish two of the missions – the main mission to retrieve a missing person and a lost data stolen from the Cielo server, the main sever of the well-renowned company, Vongola Incorporated. After deducting the possibilities, they came up with two options – either they go together, which will take a longer time; or they will separate to get the two missions done, but it could risk their lives. And so, they decided to split up and just communicate through a patched line from their headgears.

Colonnello went to the right side while Reborn went to the left after they found the secret room. By putting the images together and overlapping the two maps made them figure out where the secret room could be. That was probably what the words 'misty box' meant in the report. When they opened the door, they were surprised to see another hallway. The walls were painted gray and some of the fluorescent lights were blinking. Nothing more, nothing less. The hallway led to three pathways and they knew that this was intentionally made in order to protect whatever was being hidden inside. It also seemed that this was the only room built like this so it only made sense that this was the secret room.

But what alarmed them was the lack of security at the room's door.

Probably as a simple 'hide in plain sight' plan?

Whatever the reason was, it's definitely fishy suspicious, and it's not good if they'll stay longer in the building. As soon as Colonnello has reached his site, he unlocked the door using his general key card, which stored thousands of possible passwords. As he got in, he made sure to place a mini camera by the door handle to keep track of the outside and an emergency bomb that when triggered would explode. He snickered and silently thanked Reborn's intelligence. The room was exactly the one that kept the data. The large LED flat screen computer was still on and was still continuously downloading the files from an unknown server; most likely the files were duplicated, upon stolen from Cielo server, and passed to multiple servers in this building). _This must be the main server of the building_, Colonnello mused as he made his way to work. Setting his laptop and virus drive1 beside him, he began tapping the enemy base's computer and located the folder where the files have been downloaded. But, this was harder than he thought. On one folder, there existed a hundred folders to choose from and apparently, all of those needed password verifications in order to be opened. _Cheeky bastards_. With that, he pulled out a round device made by Verde – a green, orb-shaped device2 that can read the internal memory of the CPU. But when he's about to attach it, fate must be really cruel to him because there are 7 CPUs placed on the floor. Colonnello smirked wryly, _looks like I'll be in a serious challenge here. _

On the other hand, Reborn made his way to his target site and upon opening it, he was greeted by a bed, a desk filled with notes, scattered lab coats and broken test tubes. He scanned the room with keen eyes as he put on his digital gloves3. When he touched the lab coats, the gloves instantly read the temperature, blood pressure and the like sand other information of the owner of the coat and it looked like that the room was left bare just an hour and a half ago. Still scanning the room, he noticed two boxes that have different names on it. Turning around, he saw the broken test tubes bathing in yellow liquid. _Could it be…?_ He thought grimly and immediately he took a sample of it. He's not a detective but he made sure that in every case he did, he would bring back evidence that could make the mission faster. And this mission was no ordinary mission. His search was suddenly interrupted when he heard loud sirens echoing throughout the whole place. He then noticed the infrared attached on the bed which detected the metal composition of his watch. Quickly, he drew out his gun and positioned himself at the door, ready to strike in case the enemy saw him inside. And he was not wrong. Soldiers went inside and immediately, he shot them on the head with ease. He knew that more soldiers will come and so, he hastily made a run away from the fallen and incoming soldiers, shot when necessary and exited the room.

The building echoed 'Intruder' next and as a result, soldiers increased.

He felt stupid. He should have thoroughly checked everything before passing by. Maybe that infrared was installed in order to prevent their captive to hold any sharp objects or guns (they have metal compositions) to defend themselves, and probably they had chains worn in order to alert the building that someone escaped. Damn the watch, but what's done was done. All he needed to do was to outsmart the idiots, find Colonnello and leave the goddamn building. They're main purpose wasn't even there. He cursed. Soldiers appeared in front of him and he expertly shot the enemies. He made a powerful kick to those who tried to surprise him from behind and jabbed others with a poisoned dagger. He smirked. Idiots will be forever idiots. As he ran to the other end, he found the room where Colonnello was supposed to be empty. He cursed and went inside. The coast was clear and the computer flashed 'Intruder alert'. _So, Colonnello might have triggered something too…_ he thought. When he turned around, he saw soldiers covered in gas masks and in a split second, they blasted the tear gas all over the place. Reborn inwardly cursed and immediately held his breath, praying that he would survive as he eliminated the idiots. With swift, unhesitating movements, he slashed them with his dagger and made powerful punches to knock them out. He even twisted the arm of the other soldier before slashing his neck and kicked him to where the tear gas was concentrated and lastly shot the soldier who threw the tear gas in the face and chest before exiting the room.

Ah, he was in tears.

Blasted tear gas.

Thankfully, he managed to get out of the secret room without getting injured and ran at the opposite side in hopes of finding Colonnello. He pushed a button from his headgear and spoke, "Falcon, do you copy?"

Static reached his ears.

_Damn it._ "Falcon? Come in, Falcon." The other line was still in static. Reborn grunted, "We've been jammed."

He continued running, trying to endlessly avoid all gunshots that came from behind and even expertly evaded a bullet that almost hit his head. He flew towards the wall and slamming to it, before firing his own gun that effectively ended the lives of his pursuers. Once he regained his composure, he made another run, but a human figure caught his eye and the physical features were exactly the same in the description written on the file. Without hesitation, he made a full turn towards the direction where that figure was heading. When he was near enough, he heard gunshots upfront and quickly craned his neck to where the gunshot was. He saw a child, about 6 years in age, who defiantly kept standing despite the gun wound on his left leg. It was bleeding badly. However, it was not the boy that he saw earlier. Reborn seethed. Now he had failed to retrieve the subject without getting hurt. How could this get worse? He paused from running, hiding by the wall near the scene and hopefully from his idiotic pursuers, and retrieved something from his bag – a Claridge Hi-Tec S9 Pistol4. When he's ready, he positioned himself for firing, but studied the atmosphere first because he doesn't want to cause any harm to his subject. He watched the whole scene of yanking, kicking and even biting, typical for a kid. But when the soldier behind him was about to fire, Reborn wasted no time and shot the soldier. Of course, it brought attention to the older soldier and the kid.

"Who are you?! Show yourself!" The soldier snapped, holding the kid still by the collar of his shirt. "You must be the one that triggered the infrared!"

Reborn smirked and slowly showed himself. It's a good thing they were in their assassination uniform, along with that mask covering half of their faces. "My identity is not important, but you have something important to me."

"Heh," The soldier scoffed, "Are you talking about this brat? Sorry, but the train's full enough to board another passenger."

"If that's the case, I shall weave my way into your 'train'." And with that, Reborn seemingly disappeared and at the nick of time appeared behind the soldier and kicked him at the side, effectively dropping the child. However, the soldier was trained, and he pulled out a jagged knife, slashing Reborn's cheek to a line before giving the assassin a nice, painful punch at the stomach. Reborn smirked; coughing out blood as he and the soldier regained their composure at both ends of the room. _Not bad…_he thought and straightened himself, positioning his arms outward and taunting the soldier with his hands moving up and down. Of course, it provoked the soldier and delivered another ton of punches towards Reborn, only to be deflected by Reborn's graceful palm and used his elbow to paralyze the arm via pressure point. He did target the pressure points on both legs as well through his powerful sideward kick. When he saw the soldier unable to stand anymore, he quickly walked towards the injured boy and talked to him.

"Are you okay? Do you know a boy about your age with reddish-orange eyes?"

"M-mister!" The boy exclaimed. It's only natural for someone to be traumatized after being shot. "I…I…"

"Don't worry, we're getting out of here. We have to find my subject first." When he was about to pick up the boy, he felt him struggle, "What is it?"

"W-we…have…to…" And before he continued talking, he heard a grunting sound coming from the fallen soldier and pointed a gun.

"You won't…escape…" The soldier said and fired relentlessly.

Reborn had no time to think, and the best possible way was to shove the injured child away from him. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to save himself because he was caught at point-blank, the bullets collided on his right shoulder and right leg, and another one grazing his head. As revenge, he threw his poisoned dagger to the soldier and watched him squirm in pain as the poison rapidly decayed his organs. The mighty assassin slid down against the wall and the child hurried towards the man, crying his fear and worry out as he held his uniform.

"I…I-I'm so-sorry…" He sniffed, "I…knew…knew…"

"Knew this was going to happen?" Reborn muttered, "You should have alerted the police."

"I-I…I can-can't. It…It's too…dangerous…and it…it…it already…already…wounded…m-my f-f-friend…"

"Where's he? I believe he's the subject I'm looking for."

"We…we split up…af-after…the so-soldier…fire-fired his gu-gun…"

Reborn didn't respond. Here he was, pathetically wounded and with an equally pathetic snot-nosed child. But he doesn't have any choice. All interrogation may come later, but his first priority was to get out of here. Soon. He'll take this child for investigation though. After all, he's ruthless – may it be adults or children. Work is work.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed the floor and Reborn hurriedly cocked the gun towards the incoming intruder. Thankfully he didn't shoot because if ever he did, he just killed his subject. A scene of a reunion followed suit and the skilled assassin watched as the two children bawled their hearts out. He thought that it could be from fear, relief and happiness that both of them made it alive. Yet, fate seemed to have lots of plans because they're meeting was short lived and all could Reborn do was to widen his eyes as he watched his subject fall to the ground with gun wound on his lower back.

Soldiers came afterwards and the only coherent words he heard were 'give him back'.

Reborn was no idiot to pay attention to idiots, and with anger seeping out, he charged bullets at them with no mercy. When everything's done, he allowed himself to sit and looked at the still, horrified expression of the boy in front of him. With a click of his communicator, he talked.

"Falcon, go to sector F, 165 289." Reborn paused to take in a deep breath, "We've got medics code here. Over."

And in an instant, Colonnello was there, both with the feelings of anxiety and proud, only to be crushed when he saw Reborn wounded along with a child horrid-stricken.

* * *

**Whew, I should really thank my beta, Azahkhiel-kun for this. I might be sleeping as I type this story because of lots of grammatical errors. LOL. I also realized that there are parts that should be correct but was not because I was not paying attention to what I write. :P**

**OH! The glossary! Chotto matte…**

**VIRUS DRIVE – I made this device that was made by Verde. This is a small, USB device that stored multiple viruses to destroy the server. It affects all servers in one certain address. **

**DIGITAL GLOVES – Another thing I thought (although I'm not sure if this is already present in the real world, or something). This thing actually reads chemical components and temperature to determine time. Sometimes you can store information of targets here and by touching things only will give more details about the target.**

**GREEN, ORB-SHAPED DEVICE – Remember the device Verde made in the actual series that emits green particles to make the Arcobaleno paralyzed? That's it. :D**

**CALRIDGE HI-TEC S9 PISTOL – This is one of America's fire arms. :D I researched about guns and I think this is one of the pistols that suited Reborn. This is a medium-sized pistol unlike any other pistols, for example the Beretta. You can look for its image here, www. imfdb wiki / Claridge_Hi-Tec / Goncz_GA**

**I hope this won't confuse you. Enjoy! :D**


	3. Unimaginable Answers

**A/N: Thank you for those who reviewed. I know there isn't much yet but I am telling you, brace yourselves for upcoming chapters, although the scenes might be slow in progress. :D  
**

**P. S. I am so terrible. I am so sorry.**

* * *

**UNIMAGINABLE**

© Danielle Luna Soulhart

November 2012

* * *

**PHASE I – Unimaginable explanation**

…**:[]:…**

"Oh. You're awake. Hurray." The doctor, who was holding a chart, mockingly spoke to his patient in a very sarcastic monotonous tone. His eyebrows were creased in an irritated manner as he scribbled his latest observations regarding the patient before him. He was not irritated because of doing the charting instead of the beautiful nurses around, but the fact someone has forgotten that he specifically DID NOT treat MALE patients. As he put the chart down, he glared the male patient but he couldn't do anything more drastic to this man if he still wanted his precious job and life.

This doctor was the infamous Dr. Shamal.

"What have you done this time, hm, Reborn?" he irritatingly asked. Seriously, no matter how he blackmailed the man, it only came out insignificant to Reborn. "You do know very well that I don't treat men."

Reborn scowled, "I didn't force you to do it, Shamal." Then he looked up at the ceiling.

"Don't get arrogant now, Reborn. You're in no position to tell that to me." Shamal paused for a while and clipped his hair, "How stupid can you get, being injured?"

"Tch. If I went alone, I would have finished it properly."

Shamal fought the urge to punch Reborn. "If you did, Bermuda will throw a fit."

Reborn did not respond. When Shamal was about to speak, the door suddenly opened, revealing Luce and an uninjured Colonnello, "Getting comfy, Reborn?" Luce asked sarcastically.

Reborn rolled his eyes, "Oh very."

Luce narrowed her eyes, "Now, now, Reborn. Don't throw that attitude on me. Didn't you know that you almost died due to blood loss?"

Reborn didn't pay attention.

Luce frowned hard deeply. No one should ever display such a childish attitude to the VP of the Arcobaleno Towers and the Head of Stigma Assassins. She could_ kill_ him this very instant. But it would be very troublesome. "You had two gunshot wounds – one at shoulder and the other at the leg. It wasn't fatal but it's deep enough to destroy a few cartilages. So…" she hands a certification of temporary withdrawal from the group to Shamal, who took it and read it, "…I am putting you on temporary withdrawal and you can't have missions."

Reborn shot at that, ignoring the pain and the darkening of the bandages, "Withdraw?! From Stigma? Are you crazy, Luce?"

"I am not. You're injured, Reborn. You may have succeeded the mission and received an S grade from Bermuda, but you are injured. I cannot risk the reputation of the group and your health." Luce explained and glared at Reborn, "Am I making myself clear?"

"Tsk." Then Reborn laid back to his bed. This was the very thing that Reborn wanted to avoid – being grounded from any missions just because of small injuries like these. If he had gone alone, problems will be lessened. It's not that he didn't appreciate (almost) Colonnello's help, but he believed that working alone made things faster.

Luce made no more comment and diverted her attention to Shamal who reported Reborn's current condition. Colonnello was left with Reborn, staring at his comrade's side while clenching his fists. Even though no one's to blame, Colonnello felt guilty because he was not there to help Reborn in time. He was busy trying to retrieve the information and at the same time getting as much information as he could about the enemy. But however, the enemy had set up a trap and with the push of a button, instead of copying it, alarmed and brought in the guards. But he did also hear another siren that came from Reborn's area. Nevertheless, he should have gone to Reborn's side to aid and lessen the casualty.

And that casualty was the children.

Speaking of them, Colonnello decided to tell Reborn everything that happened and ask what happened during his escapade. But first, he had to apologize. Clearing his throat, he began to speak, "I'm sorry for what happened…"

Reborn glared at Colonnello, "It's your damn fault, alright. You're so slow."

Colonnello clenched his fists, "I know. If I was—,"

"Even if you were faster, it wouldn't change what happened." Reborn cut him, softening his glare and sighed, "It would still have happened. Plus, if you were there too, the soldiers would be more agitated. We'd all be running in circles."

"So," Colonnello brightened up a bit, "are you forgiving me?"

Reborn shot his glare back, "Of course not. Why should I? You are weak, lacks training, and slow."

A vein popped on Colonnello's head and fought the urge to deliver an oh-so-sweet punch at Reborn's face, "WHY YOU—!"

Reborn smirked. It seemed like Colonnello had loosened those useless worries.

Colonnello calmed down, huffed and secretly threw a disk towards Reborn's chest. He sat down and leaned in a little so that Reborn will be the only one to hear. "I found that disk at the site before we left. The children are secured. Lal and Fong are onto it already."

Reborn didn't say anything but he kept his eyes on the disk and before hiding it under his pillow. It seemed like he'll be busy after all.

…**:[]:…**

"WHAT?! You lost the kid?!" A loud, dark, manly voice thundered inside a small room filled with screens and papers scattered around. His black coat was left forgotten on the floor and pieces of papers went flying as he slammed his hands on the table before angrily pushing them away. His subordinates were shivering in fear and only one man stood bravely near the table. "IT WAS JUST A SIMPLE FUCKING MISSION AND YOU DIMWITS LOST HIM?!"

"I am sorry, boss." The man near the table bravely spoke, hands on back but avoided the glare he received from the boss. "The intruders were too skilled and stealthy, and we didn't notice that they were already inside, and—,"

"SILENCE! I don't want to hear useless excuses from all of you!" The boss cut in. He heaved in a deep breath and walked to the other side of the table, looking at them coldly, "That child is a very important to our mission."

"But sir," the guy started again, feeling highly nervous, "I…I think…it will be the best…thing…to happen…"

"WHAT?! AND HOW IS THAT BEST, YOU GOOD-FOR-NOTHING BLOCKHEAD?!"

"That kid…will be a good…thing f-for u-us…b-because…that kid will l-lead u-us…t-to t-them…"

A few good minutes of silence lingered in the air and the boss stared at his subordinate blankly, the others doing the same as they processed the information delivered. Slowly, the frowns of fear turned into a grin and the boss' indifferent face turned into a maniacally laughing picture. The others followed suit as well. True enough, with what the man has said, the child that they took would definitely be an easy way into their target site. Much less, that kid will have no one to turn to once everything turned into a mess. The child will return to them, no matter what happened.

The boss approached the man and patted his shoulder, "Very well. I trust you with that. Just make sure you have him monitored."

The man's expression turned 180 degrees and eagerly nodded to his boss, "Yes, sir! I won't fail you!" The others cheered.

…**:[]:...**

"…I-is he…all right?"

"Yes, he is all right." Fong replied amiably, patting the hair of the child before him who was currently leaning on the glass and staring at the unconscious body of his friend. Honestly, he was wary of the child. The two children came from an enemy base and he can't help but be suspicious. At the same time, the other side of his mind and his conscience kept telling him that these children were innocent and they should be protected from further harm.

The child, however, kept on blaming himself silently. If not for him, his friend would not be shot. If he behaved, they would still be playing together and smiling at each other. If he convinced the other more, they wouldn't be put in this kind of situation. He sniffed but kept control of his tears from falling. He needed to be strong for his friend. He needed to stay here so that when his friend wakes up, he will be the first one his friend would see. He wanted to make it up to his friend.

"I…I don't…don't want this…to happen…" the little boy said, doing his best from letting his tears fall.

"No one would want such a thing to happen, little one." Fong sympathized. "They are the bad guys, and you were there."

"But…if I…b-behaved a-a-and t-tried this wi-will not…happen…"The child said and sniffed.

Fong didn't reply and looked at the other child that was lying unconscious on the bed, pitying his state. He was very fond of children and he believed that children should not be involved with these kinds of things. They're too early to be exposed in this kind of world. Unconsciously, his hand reached for the crying child's head and patted it twice without looking. He felt pity for this child too, knowing that he probably had the gravest memories that he had to endure now. He felt a flinch from the child but felt no attempts of running away. Ah. He could say that the child was really traumatized.

"Do you want to eat?" he asked without looking, still watching as the nurses checked for the unconscious child's temperature.

The crying child shook his head, "No. I want to keep watch."

"How old are you?"

"5…6…? I am not sure…"

Fong looked at the child this time and retracted his hand. Now, there was surely something wrong. He was about to ask for the name of the child when he felt a hand landing on his shoulder. He turned his head and saw Lal.

"The child needs to be interrogated." Lal said seriously.

"Isn't it too soon?" Fong asked.

"You're too soft on children, Fong. Interrogation room. Now." Then Lal left.

Fong sighed. Sometimes he questioned his own position as an assassin. But too many things have happened and he learned to be apathetic, well, except for children. They always had this special place in his heart. Looking back at the unconscious child, he saw the nurses fixing his IV tubes, and because of that, he could still hear the muffled sobs of the child beside him. He could feel him trembling, trying to be strong. But children will be children until they grow.

Suddenly, he felt a tug.

"Onii-san, can we eat…now?" The child asked, bashful with tears still falling on his face

Fong couldn't help but smile, "All right. But after this, we have to go somewhere, okay?"

The child did not answer but nodded instead, and reached for Fong's hand, much to the other's surprise. Fong gently squeezed the child's hand and walked down the hall towards the cafeteria.

…**:[]:…**

"So he is the missing child." Bermuda said.

A sigh escaped from Luce and placed a folder in the president's table, "Yeah. Apparently, he was kidnapped from his kindergarten school and his family has no idea where his whereabouts are. The kidnappers didn't give out any information as well. No ransom, no threat. Nothing."

"So how are you able to gather that information that he is the missing child?"

"One of our employees here is apparently a friend of the sister of the kidnapped child. When he saw the picture, the memory clicked in and reported it to the parent."

Bermuda didn't comment or asked further. He put his chin on top of his closed palm and looked at Luce. The vice president was doing the same thing. They both stared at each other for ten good seconds before sighing. It seemed that the information they both known had clicked in and matched with each other's. "Looks like we have to send Lancia to the family and tell them the situation"

"Agreed." Luce replied and stood, "And after this, I'm expecting a lot of calls, yes?"

"No doubt."

Luce sighed.

"Assassin Squad meeting later."

"Understood." Then Luce left.

Bermuda sighed and looked at the other folder. He frowned. Aside from the picture and a few basic details acquired from the Intelligence Sector, the folder practically contained nothing valuable that would answer his questions. The fact that their company was in danger due to the loss of some valuable information, this new problem could make things worse. He flipped the folder open and stared at the picture. The person was someone he didn't know. No traces of news about him that he could recall too. So, this person was a zero in their list, but dangerous at the same time.

"…and to think he is just a kid…" Bermuda muttered to himself, leaving the folder open as he leaned to his office chair.

…**:[]:…**

Fong watched the child eat slowly while eating his own food. He could clearly see the child was hungry but he also noticed that the child was hesitating. He sighed. He couldn't blame the child for being wary, not when almost everyone in the cafeteria was looking at them. He ate his ramen silently and continued watching. _And the air is so awkward…_he added.

"What is this place?" The kid asked, breaking Fong's train of thought. The boy was playing with his spaghetti now.

"You should know very well that you must not play with your food, young one." Fong gently chastised and stopped the child's hand from twirling the pasta.

The child pouted a little, "I didn't know that."

Fong sighed. "Anyway, to answer your question, this place is a hotel."

"A…hotel?" The child finally looked up, tilting his head in wonder to what the word meant.

Fong nodded. "Yes. A hotel. This is a company where we work to serve our customers who are taking vacations and don't have a place to stay. This can also be used for meetings and various occasions."

"Ah, So it's a house then?"

Fong chuckled a bit. Such a naivety. "Yes, something like that."

The child saw the older chuckle but didn't react. Instead, he looked down on his food and stared at the messy plate he had. Picking up his fork again, he silently and properly twirled the pasta and ate it.

"Is it delicious?" Fong asked.

The child nodded.

"Are you scared?"

The child shook his head.

Fong sighed. The child spoke with few words. Checking his watch, he realized it was time for him to bring the child to the interrogation room. He could imagine Lal's screaming voice and the crying face of the child. He felt pity actually, but he couldn't do anything about it. He wanted to know the answers as well. But, looking at the child, he couldn't bring it to his conscience to let a child experience an interrogation; now that the child before him looked defenseless, innocent and uneducated of the world. _Pitiful, indeed._

After a few minutes, the child was finally done with his spaghetti and it brought an amused smile on Fong's face. The storm Stigma wiped the corners of the child's mouth with a table napkin, taking the child by surprise.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?" Fong asked.

The child shook his head, a blush settling on his cheeks. "No…it's just…no one…nobody does that to me…"

"Oh, I see." Fong retracted his hand and studied the child. It was positive. The child was traumatized. He had to warn Lal on about this. Standing, he lent out a hand towards the child and smiled warmly, "Come on. We don't want to be late."

The child stared for about 3 seconds at the hand, then at Fong, and back to the hand. He hesitated for a bit debating whether he should trust this man before him or not. But he couldn't feel anything hostile from him. _And those smiles are warm…_ he thought. Finally, he took the hand. "Okay."

And with that, they left.

…**:[]:…**

"Do you understand the situation, Lancia?" Luce asked sternly, handling over the folder that contained the information about the missing child and the aftermath of the events.

Lancia was an assassin, but he was not part of Stigma. Even so, he is the second most feared assassin, next to Reborn, and with eyes alone, he could turn his enemies into a trembling mess. Taking the folder, he nodded and spoke, "Should I take him here?"

"Not at the moment. We have to make sure that the child is already good to go," Luce replied, "I don't want to risk our name for this disaster. After all, that family is our ally."

"I understand. But, what about the other?"

"The other who?"

"Aren't there two children who came in here?"

"Oh. The other will be under surveillance for a while. We can't release him yet and bringing him to an orphanage will be a great risk too."

"I see." Looking down at the folder, Lancia opened it to take a quick look and gasped. Luce heard it and patted his shoulder.

"I guess you now know the graveness of this situation, Lancia."

Lancia could only nod.

…**:[]:…**

The child was practically shrinking down in his chair.

The air was so thick that everybody seemed to have stopped breathing**.** The walls were painted white and no other furniture was seen except for the white black table that contrasted the walls. In fact, it scared the child more. There were no windows either. And the door…_where is the door?!_ The child thought in panic. The door was actually hidden by the whiteness of the walls, given the fact that the door was an automatic sliding door. The kid looked back at the three people who kept on burning him with their stares. And they were getting scarier.

A cough broke the awkward silence. "I think we should keep the child's mind sane, yes?" Fong said. He was standing, from a distance, behind the seated child. He only walked near the child when he could see the chair already trembling.

"Tch. Always soft on kids." The teal haired woman named Lal commented and eased up from her tensed position, taking a seat opposite of the child's chair.

The child managed to straighten himself out, thanks to Fong, and looked back at the people who kept on staring at him. One of them was the teal-haired woman and her stare gave him the creeps. Next to her was a tall guy with long wavy hair and short bangs. And lastly, the one seated at the center, was a guy with narrowed eyes and his irregular cut hair were looming over his eyes. His hair was of dirty blond in color and wore a coat. Nevertheless, they all scare the kid.

"Alaude, I think you need to tone down your glare." The long haired guy said, finally sitting down. "You won't be able to get answers from him if you scare him."

"I don't need your opinion, Jager." Alaude said. He kept on staring at the poor child until he sat. His eyes never left the child even when he flipped the folder that was in front of him. Lal and Jager incredulously stared and didn't speak. They knew too well the consequences.

"So." Alaude finally started. "You are the child together with the injured boy."

The child nodded.

Alaude slammed his hands on the table, effectively startling the child. "I don't accept body language. Speak."

"Y-yes…"

"State your name."

The child didn't respond.

"Don't make me repeat myself."

"U-uh…my name is…" The child mumbled.

"I can't hear you."

"Tsuna…"

"Tsuna?" Lal repeated.

"Yes. Tsuna. That is what…they…gave…me…"

Alaude was writing the information down and spoke again. "Age?"

"5…or…6…I don't remember."

"Do you know your birthday?" Jager asked this time.

The child shook his head, "No."

"Who are your parents?" Alaude asked again.

"I don't know. I live in that building."

The child named Tsuna was met with a deadly silence. A child living in that dangerous building? That was certainly unbelievable.

"You live in that building?" Alaude asked, his voice laced with irritation, "Do you know what you are saying?"

Tsuna cowered a bit, but still answered, "Y-yes. It…It's true…Tsu-Tsuna lives in th-that building…"

"Do you know that the building you are saying you live in is a dangerous place?" Jager asked.

Tsuna looked at his interrogators and fought the urge to cry. He knew what they were talking about because he lived there. He knew he was getting scolded. He nodded tentatively and answered, "Y-Yes…so many…soldiers…and…others…"

Silence was once again filling the air, but this time, it was heavier than earlier. The three interrogators stood, glares were burning Tsuna's eyes and the child could see their rage. Fong was no different too, but his side was softer than the others. With this, Tsuna began to tear up and did his best to disappear into the chair.

"You know you are in a dangerous place…" Alaude spoke, voice dark, "And yet you didn't do anything."

"Tsuna doesn't know…Tsuna didn't do anything…" The child said.

"BUT YOU ARE IN AN ENEMY BASE!" Alaude roared.

Jager held Alaude while Lal held onto the folder, protecting it from being ripped by the angered interrogator. She knew too well Alaude's temper. Looking at the child, she asked, "Do you know that you are a threat to us now?"

Tsuna was all tears now, his trembling did not cease and held his head, "No…Tsuna's not bad…" he mumbled.

Alaude was not satisfied, still struggling against Jager's hold. Nevertheless he asked again, "Do you know that you are the reason why the child in the infirmary got hurt?!"

Tsuna's eyes widened at that remark and snapped, "I KNOW! It's Tsuna's fault, right?! It's always my fault! Tsuna is always bad. Always! Even though Tsuna is not doing anything wrong…" Then he broke down into tears, trembling badly.

Jager and Lal exchanged looks. That was certainly a reaction that they were not expecting. Then they hear the child spoke again, "Enma is my first friend…" A hiccup, "He is always with me…playing with me. I have…no friends…I don't know why I am there…They say I live there…but I know they are lying…Tsuna doesn't understand anymore…"

Alaude seemed to cool off after hearing that. He didn't know what set him off, but the moment he heard Tsuna saying that he lived there; it seemed like a trigger pulled at a wrong time. Looking at the child, he wrote down the information and took a deep breath, and spoke again. "What is your relation to the enemy base?"

Tsuna looked at Alaude with dull eyes before climbing onto the table and crawled towards him. Alaude raised an eyebrow at that brave gesture but did not do anything and waited for the child to come near. When Tsuna was near enough, the child pulled back his right sleeve, revealing a certain pattern.

"They say Tsuna will become a great soldier one day." Tsuna said, trembling, "They say that someone will pick me up and become his knight. And they put this on me."

Jager, Lal and even Fong walked near to the two and only Fong reacted to it. "I know that symbol." Fong said.

"What do you mean?" Lal asked, looking back and forth from the symbol to Fong.

"That symbol is owned by the Gesso Family, the second strongest family, next to Vongola."

* * *

**A/N: Uhm, my beta said that Alaude's actions are kinda off. I have my reasons why he was like that, but you guys are free to guess. Also, tell me if you guys are confused. If not…tell me what you think. :D**


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